Arkansas Tech’s Golden Suns have been chosen by Great American Conference coaches as the preseason favorite to win the 2013 league championship, the league office announced on Thursday. The Wonder Boys were chosen to finish second in the GAC by men’s division coaches.

Arkansas Tech’s women were runners-up at last year’s GAC Championship. Rebecka Surtevall captured the league’s Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors. She won the GAC Championship with a then-school record three-round score of 232. She bettered that mark by shooting a 228 at the NCAA Division II Super Region 4 Championship.

The Golden Suns, coached by back-to-back Coach of the Year recipient Amy White, also return senior Niki Possage of Dardanelle and sophomore Taylor Kline. ATU won three tournaments in the 2011-12 season including the UAM Classic, the Mulerider Invitational and the Natural State Golf Classic.

Tech will open the spring season March 11-12 at the Texoma Chevy Dealers Lion Intercollegiate in Pottsboro, Texas. The season opens on Saturday with Southwestern Oklahoma State and UAM. The GAC Championship is at Hot Springs Country Club on April 14-16.

Wonder Boys golf

The Wonder Boys golf team enters the spring season picked second in the GAC preseason poll, behind first-place Southwestern Oklahoma State. Behind ATU is Harding.

Wonder Boys head coach Luke Calcatera earned GAC’s Coach of the Year last year in his first season and coached ATU to a second-place finish at the GAC Championship. Reigning GAC Player of the Year, senior Rowdy Garrett, returns for the Wonder Boys this year, along with seniors Graham Rucker, Parker Hale and Colton Dillard.

The Wonder Boys won the Harding Bison Fall Classic and the Mulerider Invitational. Tech shot a season average of +10 per round for a four-player team in 2011-12.

The Wonder Boys will host their first tournament of the season, the Dave Falconer Memorial in Danville, on March 10-12 at Chamberlyne Country Club.

Golden Suns tennis

Arkansas Tech’s Golden Suns tennis team has been picked to finish first in the GAC, voted on by the league’s head coaches.

“It’s great to have the respect of the conference, but the end of the season is where you want to be No. 1,” Golden Suns head coach Abby Davis said. “We are flattered to be picked, but now we know we have a target on our back and have to work even harder.”

Last season, ATU posted a 6-0 record during its regular season and finished 17-5 overall. Returning for the Golden Suns are the 2012 GAC Freshman of the Year, Aida Castany, as well as Maria Aleman, who made the All-GAC First Team. Also returning are seniors Nina Greenway and Jessica Velasquez. Newcomers include Laura Sanchez and Bohdana Sarda.

“We had a highly competitive fall season,” Davis said. “We have our lineup together at the moment, so we can concentrate on getting better, but I do expect the lineup to change throughout the year.”

The Golden Suns open the season at high noon on Feb. 16 in Oklahoma City, Okla., against Central Oklahoma.